Complex security and strategic latency

The UK Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11554604
AutoresPaul Cornish (Research Group Director for Defence; Security and Infrastructure at RAND Europe in Cambridge, autor de correspondencia), Andrew Dorman (0000-0001-8107-3153), Andrew M Dorman (King's College London)
Año2015
Volumen91
Número2
Páginas351-370
Fecha de publicación2015-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1468-2346.12239
OpenAlexW1980648004
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10

Whichever party or parties form the next UK government, a Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) is expected to begin soon after the general election in May. The review might be a 'light touch' exercise-little more than a reaffirmation of the SDSR produced by the coalition government in 2010. It seems more likely, however, that the review will be a lengthier, more deliberate exercise and one which might even last into 2016. For those most closely engaged in the process the challenge is more complex than that confronted by their predecessors in 2010. The international security context is more confused and contradictory; the UK's financial predicament is still grave; security threats and challenges will emerge that cannot be ignored; the population's appetite for foreign military engagement appears nevertheless to be restricted; and prevailing conditions suggest that the risk-based approach to national strategy might be proving difficult to sustain. Two key questions should be asked of the review. First, in the light of recent military experiences, what is the purpose of the United Kingdom's armed forces? Second, will SDSR 2015-16 sustain the risk-based approach to national strategy set out in 2010, and if so how convincingly? Beginning with a review of the background against which SDSR 2015-16 will be prepared, this article examines both enduring and immediate challenges to the national strategic process in the United Kingdom and concludes by arguing for strategic latency as a conceptual device which can complement, if not reinvigorate, the risk-based approach to national strategy and defence

Business · Computer security · Latency (audio · Telecommunications · Computer Science · European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Military History and Strategy